Don't Give Up

This month's saving story comes from someone we all know, our very own Anne of What's for Dinner and On the Menu fame. I've known Anne longer than I've known anyone outside of my immediate family and I have seen her jump in and take on Cheapskating, get frightened and back away, realise and understand the principles and come back more enthusiastic than ever.

Anne is a bit of a mystery; a little shy unless you know her, but outspoken, passionate, hardworking, determined and loyal to those she cares about and I am very humbled that this amazing woman allows me to be her friend.

Anne writes"I was slow to join the Cheapskates Club. I wasn't going to wear secondhand clothes and make my own washing powder or do home haircuts just to save a few dollars. I'd listen to Cath as she talked about bottling peaches she'd bought by the case from the market at closing time or how she could make a whole year's supply of washing powder in about half an hour and smile and nod and think I'd never, ever do those things.

Then we saw the GFC coming (after living through the recession of the 90s with a mortgage, credit card debt and a very young family) and listened to how Cath was preparing her family for an economic crisis and knew we had to get our affairs in order. We worked flat chat on clearing all our debt including our mortgage for almost three years. While our friends were and still are struggling we are breathing easy and sleeping well. These days we are concentrating on building our Emergency Fund to be equal to one full year of expenses and get a great deal of satisfaction each month when the statements come in - we have three accounts for our Emergency Fund, we don't put all our eggs in one basket.

I was and still am a stay-at-home wife and mother. I consider looking after my home and family my job and that the way I work at my job is what allows us to live a very comfortable life on one wage.

I regard the money we don't spend because I cook from scratch, shop very carefully, grow a few veggies, do the mending and cleaning myself, shop all year round for presents for birthdays and Christmas, turn lights off, catch cold water, recycle, use grey water to water the garden, buy in bulk and all the other things I do out of habit these days as my contribution to the family finances.

If I didn't do these things we would be spending far more than we are earning and going backwards very quickly.

Has it been easy?

No.

Is it simple?

Yes.

We started by just stopping spending. We went on a three year No Spend challenge! If it wasn't absolutely necessary and couldn't be homemade, bartered or swapped we went without. Not that we went without much. Actually we never went without anything we needed. We had food on the table, a roof over our heads and clothes on our backs. Were they flash? Of course not, we didn't have the money to splurge.

We did have a plan though, and enough determination (or fear) to stick to our plan. I would scour the website for recipes, new craft ideas, gift ideas, gardening tips, cleaning tip and anything at all that would help us save even a couple of dollars because that would be a couple of dollars more we could throw at our debt.

It worked. Oh there were times I was discouraged, and times I let my membership lapse. Then I'd get a newsletter and be inspired to try something else and it would work and I'd be back on the Cheapskates bandwagon.

Now I'm a part of the furniture I think. I don't ever want my membership to lapse again. I've marked the renewal date on the kitchen calendar and in my diary and even set a reminder to pop up on my computer.

I love Cheapskates and the friends I've made over the years. I love the discussions and the different opinions. I love that we can share our ideas without fear of being considered odd.

Most of all I love that thanks to Cheapskates' support my husband and I are now debt free and are building security for our future."